We may never know why

President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of yet another big-time Middle Eastern bad guy, thus leading his frequently cited adversary, Barack Obama, by a 2 to 1 score.

But the argument among many politically savvy folks currently focuses on the timeliness of this latest hit job. People ask, what are the U.S. intelligence data indicating the immediate and critical need for this killing? If the information collection detected that Qassem Soleimani’s various proxy gangs were about to attack Americans, then why did the U.S. military forces not preemptively take out these terrorists? Why instead do a drone strike on this celebrated Iranian warrior?

Alas, we may never know the actual discussions fostered by intelligence agencies. But we surely do realize that once again as his impeachment trial looms, Trump will attempt to distract public attention away from negative news with risky and even foolhardy power-flexing actions.

Ed Kominski, Weatherford

Iran underestimates America

Re: “Iran fires missiles at U.S. bases — ‘All is well!’ Trump tweets as no casualties reported at either location,” Wednesday news story.

Iran is saber-rattling and threatening the United States, its people and its assets.

Proclaimed a “hero” by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Hassan Rouhani, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani was the commander of Iran’s elite Quds force. He is personally responsible for the killing of hundreds of innocent Americans. His aim? To destroy America. Yet millions of Iranians have taken to the streets in Tehran calling for “death to America.”

It’s on record that I don’t agree with President Donald Trump on much of anything, but we cannot sit idle as Iran cultivates terrorism with the intent of destroying the U.S.

Iran is dangerous; even formidable. But its mistake will be underestimating America.

Guy Mercurio, Dallas

You can make climate choices

Burns is spot on to point out that every individual can make decisions about what they want to do about climate change. There are no good reasons to wait for government to take action. In a democracy where we chose our leaders, we cannot expect them to lead us where we do not want to follow. This is a common-sense fact about elected officials.

Voters need to show what they want before political candidates will risk an election by taking a stand. If I buy an SUV when I only need a midsize car, run the AC while waiting in the drive-through, throw away a third of my food and drive 70-mile round-trip daily commutes alone in a car, why would my congressperson think I am concerned about climate change?

We can all make personal changes that will not only immediately improve our national use of resources like carbon, water and electric power, but also immediately show up in our pocket books. Regardless of what the rest of the world may do, if we at home make better choices, we will be in a better position to deal with whatever comes later. The adage of “waste not, want not” is just as true today as ever.

Randy R. Irvin, Denton

Not just the rich benefit

Re: “The rich get richer in Texas — Trump’s tax cuts have boosted the state and its highest earners,” by Mitchell Schnurman, Tuesday Metro & Business column.

The Trump tax cuts have boosted the state and all of its earners. It is not accurate to suggest that only the rich benefited. The rich, those earning over $500,000 annually, make up less than 1% of the state’s earners; therefore, there are 99% of the earners who are not rich.

It is impossible that the benefits from the tax cuts to 1% of the state’s earners could be greater than the benefits accrued to the 99% because there are just too many of them. Texas added 300,000 new jobs in 2018, the creation of which was assisted by the tax cuts. The benefit of these new jobs also accrued to the 99%, as it is unlikely that starting salaries for these new jobs were greater than $500,000.

H. Wayne Snavely, Trophy Club

Show income and taxes paid

To be fair, you need to show a chart on each group’s level of income with taxes actually paid (with a percentage of total income). Simply, if you pay no taxes, it is hard to reduce your taxes paid. The 50% that disagreed with the tax cut don’t pay taxes.

Also, you need to talk about how many of the groups (especially the unemployed) have a job now and how their wages have increased. The better tax savings in Texas is due to limiting the amount of write-off on real estate taxes to $10,000. That affects more than the wealthy with huge real estate values like in New York and California. And no state income tax in Texas.

I agree both parties never cut spending. That is the elephant in the room.

Frank Wagnon, Southlake

Von Erich story inspiring

Re: “Von Erich 3.0,” Sunday Arts & Life story.

As a rasslin’ fan of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, I found the story regarding the Von Erich family to be not only a nostalgic journey down memory lane, but also an inspirational story of how God does move in mysterious ways. I saw David Von Erich (David Adkisson) play in a high school basketball playoff game in the mid-1970s and watched how the fans cheered when his dad, Fritz, and mom, Doris, walked into the gym.

Several years later while I was coaching at Carrollton Newman Smith High School, our athletic booster club hosted a fundraiser featuring pro-wrestling matches. Kevin and Kerry Von Erich were the headliners, and the gym was packed an hour before the first match was scheduled to begin. The wrestlers used our coaches’ locker room, and when the Von Erich boys had finished showering, we had to keep them locked in the office for over an hour because of the number of fans who remained outside waiting.

I remember both Kevin and Kerry to be very humble, personable and extremely polite young men, i.e., “yes, sir, no, sir.” Even though the Von Erich legacy is one of great tragedy, it is good to see that the Kevin Von Erich family is living a blessed life.